A Daily Caffeine Fix

If you don’t know what coffee is, then where have you been? Pretty much everyone drinks it and some people on a daily basis even. There are so many different ways to get your caffeine fix now that it’s a bit mind boggling. First, you have the regular coffee maker. Then, there’s the single-serve coffee makers that just came out not too long ago. Single-serve coffee makers make things simpler, but also more expensive. Of course, there’s all the coffee shops that you can seemingly find on every single street corner now. However you intake your caffeine fix, there are always ways to save money and be earth-friendly while sipping it.

I have to credit my late grandmother for starting my coffee addiction early on in life. She would babysit me and my sister and make us her delicious coffee cake. We always looked forward to it and loved making it with her. Her secret was using the actual coffee grounds to get that strong flavor. Little did I know that coffee cake usually only uses the brewed coffee and not the grounds! At the age of five, she was already handing out pure energy to me. No wonder I love the taste of coffee!

Lucky for me, I don’t need to have coffee every single day. I really like the taste of it and sitting back with a cup of coffee as an indulgence. The cost of buying specialty coffee from a shop just adds up too quickly. Plus I don’t like to depend on it to wake up every single day. I save it for when I really need it.

Coffee shops

Oof. Getting coffee daily from a coffee shop adds up quite a bit. If you need coffee several times a day, then even more so! Then, if you like the fancy coffee then you’re really spending money. Let’s say that the coffee you buy is $5. Buying it every single day for the year will end up costing you $1825. You can try cutting back on that by using a coffee maker every now and then. For people who drink multiple cups a day, this might be the most cost effective way to go.

Try bringing your own reusable thermos to a coffee shop next time. Some shops actually give you a small discount because you save them money by not using their cups. Plus, then you’re more earth-friendly because coffee cups aren’t recyclable. Another thing is that you might get a bit more coffee than usual. If you hand them a larger cup they might just fill it up for you when they’re feeling nice. I’ve heard that Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts are both trying to create recyclable coffee cups for their stores. Maybe we’ll see that in a few years.

Single serve coffee

Fancy home-made coffee! Definitely a more expensive way to drink coffee at home. Not only are the appliances themselves more expensive, but the cost of buying the cups adds up quite a bit too! This might be the way to go if you only drink a cup of coffee a day and don’t have a lot of time. These single cup coffee makers take only a few minutes per cup of coffee. You can always save a bit of money by purchasing a reusable cup. These are made out of steel and all you do is fill it with coffee grounds. Takes more work to make each cup of coffee but saves a lot of money and waste.

Coffee Makers

The most cost effective way to intake your caffeine! My good friend from high school drinks 6 cups a day herself! She definitely just fills up her coffee maker in the morning and is good to go. She has two fast growing kids and coffee shops just aren’t a luxury that’s in her budget. Not to mention that 6 cups of coffee a day would cost her about $30! Coffee makers are inexpensive to buy and you can even buy reusable filters to cut down on waste.

How do you intake your coffee? Are you a coffee shop lover or do you like to drink coffee in the comfort of your own home?